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The group HAD A BONE TO PICK with James. He hasn’t been an effective team member ever since his relationship with his ex-girlfriend CAME TO AN END. James dated his ex-girlfriend for 15 years but a lot of negative things were GOING ON between them. James and his girlfriend reached a stage where they couldn’t GET TO THE BOTTOM OF things and had no idea what the main reason for their troubles, stresses, and anxiety was anymore. This led James to leave and reflect on the things he did right and wrong. The team tried to GET THEIR HEAD AROUND James’ situation. They knew that this separation was not like any separation they have LEARNED ABOUT or heard of. They were aware of his emotional pain and suffering. That’s why they made every effort to provide the comfort needed and take care of his work for a certain period of time so they could help reduce at least one source of stress he had to DEAL WITH. They gave him two weeks off to rest. They sent someone every day to CHECK-IN ON him and make sure he was okay. They started slowly and gradually increased his workload to its normal rate when he returned to work. But even after all of the team’s effort, James’ performance still was not meeting the minimum expectations. The team agreed that they had to be honest and ON THE LEVEL with James. He needed to PULL HIS OWN WEIGHT or else he might lose his job.

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Because her mother turned out to be a snake doesn’t mean we should TAR Pauline WITH THE SAME BRUSH. Pauline’s mother was a WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, outwardly kind but inwardly vicious. She had cheated on, TOOK ADVANTAGE OF, and FAKED OUT her close friends for years. She hid her real malicious intent and pretended to be harmless. But in reality, she caused five dear friends to TURN INTO enemies, three couples to SPLIT UP, and two small businesses to CLOSE DOWN. Now Pauline is GETTING INTO DEEP WATER since everyone knows about her mother and her rotten history. Pauline can’t get herself out of the loop of hate and resentment that people have toward her and her mother. LET ME SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT, yes sometimes, the children pay the price for their parent’s wrongdoings. Unfortunately, that is what Pauline has been going through since her mother’s true colors have been shown.

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When we were teenagers we used TO LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY. We used to be reckless and love to take risks. We used to be impulsive and full of energy. Yes, we made a lot of mistakes, FOOLED AROUND, and messed things up. Our family and society were okay with that too. They didn’t judge us. They didn’t even give us the sense of being guilty or being responsible. But now, in our adulthood, things are totally different. The whole society STANDS AGAINST us once we hit 18 years old. They believe that we are grown-ups now and that we need to quit failing and figure out everything as if things are AT THE PUSH OF A BUTTON. They PUT PRESSURE ON us as if each and every decision we make at this age will either lead us to total success or complete failure. Old people need to GET OVER this mentality that prohibits people in their 20s, and 30s to take risks and be creative. Old people forget that they had the FIRST-HAND experience with the lack of a supportive system to uplift them. Old people sometimes FOCUS ON the insignificant details that they can’t SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREE. I hope that this message will be an EYE-OPENER for some of them.

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Having SMALL TALK with you

Has always been my dream

I’ve wished I could SPILL THE BEANS

And feel like I am back to being fourteen

I wish I could trust you

And you could always be nearby

But it is unfortunate

That it might only happen WHEN PIGS FLY

I have to COUNT ON what my mom used to say

Because it is the only way

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

This is how she used to BACK me UP

So I can MOVE ON and RISE UP

I have to get away and try to forget

the memories of when we first met

I can’t let my hard work GO UP IN SMOKE

This situation is hard; it is definitely no joke

I have to KEEP myself AWAY

Remember this mistake

To shield myself from heartbreak

I need to stay strong

For this has been going on for far too long

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I have always been a RUN-OF-THE-MILL kind of person in life. I have never been excellent or bad in any subject at school. I was neither chosen to lead a sports team nor was I the last person to be picked to play for both teams. At college, I decided to pursue a business major which was considered a field for every average person. I wasn’t hired in a big tech company in Seattle nor did I work for a small office around the corner. I wasn’t the first person to get promoted nor was I the last one to be considered. At home, I am neither the oldest nor the youngest kid in my family. I was neither the troublemaker nor the peacemaker. Does my situation RING ANY BELLS? Well, yes! I am the middle kid. They say that the middle kid is the invisible one. They are viewed as less charismatic or less intelligent than their siblings. But we have KEPT A LID ON the truth for a long time. In fact, we, middle kids, conceal our potential, and rarely has anyone noticed how we GET THE HANG of things. We intentionally COME OUT into the world claiming that we were LEFT OUT just because we want people to assume that we are the victims of this world. Our goal was to let the outside PAY ATTENTION TO our unfortunate reality of being the middle kid by TUNING OUT our capabilities. Our ability to LAY LOW was absolutely OUR ICING ON THE CAKE.

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Kevin DREW A BLANK when he stood in front of the judges. He couldn’t remember any of his lines that he has been intensively rehearsing for the past week. He remained frozen for two minutes straight. His eyes were wide open as if someone had hypnotized him. Before Kevin STEPPED UP to the theater, many thoughts were rushing inside of his head. His fear and worries CONTROLLED OVER his state of mind. Now, he was SCARED STIFF especially when he saw Mr. Johnson between the judges. Kevin HEARD a lot ABOUT him in the past. Mr. Johnson was one of the toughest people to please when it came to acting in theater. He was STRAIGHT TO THE POINT and didn’t SUGAR COAT his criticism or his praises. At that moment, Kevin realized that the role of his dream was out of reach. But what Kevin didn’t TAKE INTO ACCOUNT was that Mr. Johnson wasn’t just a picky person but can also CATCH ON to which people deserve to be reconsidered or which do not. Mr. Johnson CUT Kevin SOME SLACK and gave him another chance to perform on the next audition. He could tell that Kevin was worth a second shot.

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CALM BEFORE THE STORM:

Courtney CAUGHT WIND OF gossip being spread about her. She was PSYCHED OUT when she heard such stories that had no connection to her. Her reputation was deeply affected in her neighborhood. She used to be the most genuine, trusted, and beloved person among the women in her circle. But things changed drastically. Women that used to keep her company were no longer around. Everyone kept their distance from her. They didn't want to ruin their reputation by getting in touch with her again. They simply LET HER DOWN in the most difficult time. Courtney knew that things were getting OUT OF HER HANDS. She had never been in such a catastrophic condition. She even couldn’t COME OUT SWINGING against all these dirty stories. She didn’t know to whom she could SEEK OUT help. She knew that her truth shouldn’t FALL ON DEAF EARS since this would threaten her marriage life that she has been building for years. She was so WEIGHED DOWN that she may BE SUBJECTED TO losing her job in case her manager or co-workers received such horrible news about her. It looked like someone was seeking revenge and wanted to see her lose everything and suffer.

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I still remember how my teacher LEFT A BAD TASTE IN MY MOUTH. It is not a TALL TALE but it’s a true story that left a great impact on my life. One day, we were reading a story in class and each student was given a section to read. I kept on waiting for the teacher to assign me a paragraph but that never happened. It was so obvious that she PASSED ME BY on purpose. I started to feel teary-eyed but I tried my best to control my feelings. But, for a nine-year-old girl, my heart was aching so badly. I was so hurt when I saw that she picked everyone to read a portion of the story except for me. No, it wasn’t the first time. It has happened at least 5 times before. At first, I had good intentions TOWARDS HER and thought that I may HAVE SLIPPED HER MIND. I even thought that it might have been my fault, but she kept skipping me RAIN OR SHINE. One day, she finally chose me to read. My excitement didn’t last long though. I had barely SCRATCHED THE SURFACE and was starting to TAKE OFF my reading performance when she CUT ME OFF and asked someone else to continue reading my portion. The truth was plain and clear now. It was obvious that she didn't want to waste her time waiting for me to FINISH UP since I took three times the average time needed to read my part. I was devastated. This experience scarred me and it took me several years to get over what happened.

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I WOKE UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED this morning and my wife IS STILL GOING ON AND ON ABOUT  how miserable her life has been. She literally puts me OUT OF SORTS. I can no longer PUT UP with her. In fact, I don’t have enough energy to PULL MYSELF UP anymore. I am so bored and SICK OF every detail in my life. I have even BECOME AWARE OF all the symptoms and signs that say I am in a deep depression. I can't FEEL FOR my wife anymore. My pain has become the center of my attention. My depression has penetrated my soul and my mind. I am a person that KNOWS all the details about depression LIKE THE BACK OF MY HAND. My life is FOR THE BIRDS and everything seems unexciting, dull, and dark.

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I still remember how I was sure that she was living her best life. I had no idea that she was BLOWING SMOKE and was actually faking most of her life. She used to upload pictures of her travel trips, romantic dinners, and luxurious cars on Instagram. The sarcastic truth was that everything she posted online was totally fake. If you looked closely, you can tell that things were not as they seemed. After a while, things became clearer. Her stories were MADE UP and started to conflict with one another. Also, even if things were partially real, she would BLOW THINGS OUT OF PROPORTION and add some spices to her stories trying her best to SHOW OFF. She was literally FULL OF IT. However, doing so wouldn’t encourage people to STAY CLOSE to her instead she would make them RUN AWAY or use her. She must understand that being DOWN TO EARTH is not something to be shameful of. In fact, people are attracted to those who are genuinely humble but still confident. Also, she must remember the idiom that says “EASY COME, EASY GO”. That being said she must not rely on those superficial relationships because sooner or later they would actually FALL APART and would eventually fail.

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